Doing Absolutely Nothing
by shopgirl152
Summary: Friend Dates Series. Friend dates don't have to be overly complicated affairs. Sometimes, they're as simple as hanging out down by the lake with your best friend during the hottest spring day on record. Oh, and bandaging her arm when you hip bump her into a tree. one-shot. ENDING HAS BEEN REWRITTEN.


**A/N: **Ending has been rewritten.  
**Inspired By/Song Used: **Absolutely Nothing by Randy Houser

* * *

"And Ferb Fletcher steps up to the plate. He is striding with confidence ladies and gentlemen. He stops at the plate, checks the wind speed and it's batter up." Phineas stood in the backyard on a makeshift pitcher's mound, a baseball in his hand. He eyed his brother. "It's a close game ladies and gentlemen. The great Phineas Flynn steps up to the mound-"

"Pitch the ball already."

"And the batter is impatient." He nodded once at an imaginary umpire before turning his baseball cap around to the back, reeling an arm back before launching the baseball down the length of the yard.

The projectile made clean contact with the bat and Ferb took off running, grinning as he passed the red head.

"And it's another home run for Fletcher." Phineas slapped his brother a high five as the teen made it to home base. The red head looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Annd...we've lost another baseball." He smirked. "Nice one Bro."

Ferb gave him a thumbs up. "Hope your batting's better than your pitches."

"It is! I've been working on my swing all week! Wanna trade places?"

"Don't you have a friend date with Izzy?"

He grinned. "Oh yeah! I should probably start getting ready for it." His brother raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh, we're having a picnic down by the lake." He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Good day for it too; it's gonna be a scorcher. What are you up to today?"

The other teen shrugged.

"Well, I'd invite you along, but...you know." The grin widened. "Me and Izzy time."

"That is quite alright." Ferb smiled, placing the baseball bat against his shoulder as the two made their way into the house. "Would you like some help?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I have it covered. I know what we're eating; I just have to make the sandwiches and grab a few things."

"Have fun."

"Will do." Phineas waited until his brother was out of the kitchen before rummaging around inside the refrigerator. "Now let's see..."

"Hey Phineas."

He poked his head over the door and grinned. "Hey Izzy. Come on in."

Her head appeared over the door of the fridge a second later. "What are you doing?"

"Oh yeah! I thought we'd have a picnic for our Friend Date today."

"Picnic?" She raised a brow. "Phin, we already had a picnic; the night we saw the train remember?"

"That was a night time picnic; this is different."

"How?"

"Well..." he straightened up, handing her a jar of mayonnaise and a package of turkey meat. "For one thing, this one's during the day. For another-hey, would you grab the mustard? My hands are kinda full."

Isabella reached into the fridge, grabbing a container of mustard before shutting the door with her foot, following the red head over to the counter.

"For another, we're making the sandwiches before we go and, I thought I'd bring my guitar. Soo...it's kind of a picnic, slash hang out at the lake. I mean, how often do we visit the lake? It's almost in our backyard, yet we never stop to appreciate it."

"Sounds good to me." She set the mayonnaise, turkey meat and mustard on the counter. "Do I need to run back home and grab anything?"

"Hmm...no, I don't think so. I threw two beach chairs and my guitar in the back of the truck last night, so I think we're good." He paused. "Actually, we might have to stop for gas. And grab a bag of ice for the cooler."

"You want me to grab some ice? I think my Mom just bought some for a cookout at a coworker's house."

"Nah. We'll stop on the way." The red head surveyed the food on the counter. "Is that everything we need for sandwiches?"

"All except the relish."

"Yech. How can you eat that?"

"It's good." Isabella walked back over to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a container of relish before shutting the door. "Besides, it's just pickled cucumbers."

"It's still gross."

She playfully shoved him. "Alright scaredy cat, hand me that loaf of bread. Let's make these bad boys."

* * *

"Hey Phin?"

"Yeah?"

"Just out of curiosity, how far away _is_ the gas station?" Isabella held up the cooler. "It has to be about a hundred degrees out here; are you sure these'll keep?"

"Oh yeah. The gas station's just down the road." Phineas hopped into the truck, waiting for his best friend to climb in before turning on the engine and backing out of the driveway. "Once we get there, I'll fill up the truck and you grab the ice."

"You got it." She playfully saluted as the red head pulled the car onto the street and on to the main road.

"It's just a couple of blocks from here." He switched on the radio, grinning at the song playing.

_-and a slim Jim  
__oh and a couple of ice cold beers too.  
__And I swung a little gravel rock, burning out that parking lot  
__found a long dirt road and the perfect river spot-__  
_

"That's gonna be us soon Izzy. Except, you know, down by the lake instead of the river." He grinned, slowing the truck down before pulling into a gas station parking lot.

"Wow. That _was_ close."

"See? Told you." Phineas put the truck in park, hopping out. "Okay Isabella; I'll watch the cooler and make sure the sandwiches don't spoil while you grab the ice."

"Sure thing." She started to walk away, only to pause. "Are you sure we don't need anything else?"

"No."

Isabella laughed.

"Grab the ice and whatever else looks good."

"Sounds good. Be back in two shakes!"

The red head smiled as he watched his friend jog toward the store before returning his attention to the pump. "Well, time to fill up."

* * *

_Minutes later_...

"I'm back!" Isabella sing-songed, making her way over to the truck.

"Perfect timing." Phineas checked the gas meter before dislodging the pump. "Looks like we're all filled up."

"Where's the cooler? We should probably fill it up before we head down to the lake. I think the ice is starting to melt."

"Good idea." He reached into the passenger seat of the truck, grabbing the cooler from the floor. He set it on the ground and opened it, watching as Isabella poured the bag of ice over the sandwiches. "Perfect."

"Just one thing left."

"What's that?" She held up a six-pack and his eyes widened. "Whoa!" He grinned. "Cherry Coke!" He wrapped her in a one-armed hug. "You're the best Izzy!"

She grinned. "Thank you very much. Also, I can't take all the credit; you forgot to pack drinks."

He raised a brow at her. "No I didn't."

"Yes, you did." She added the cokes to the cooler before closing the lid. "Think about it."

"No. I went into the kitchen, you came over, we got the sandwich fixings, made the sandwiches, grabbed the cooler..." he laughed. "I forgot the drinks. Wow Izzy; I'm glad you realized that. We would have been sunk otherwise."

"Were you maybe distracted?" she teased.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe."

Isabella nodded slowly, smirking. "Uh-huh."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Phineas laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders before releasing her, climbing back into the truck. "Well, now that we have everything, let's head down to the lake."

* * *

"Phin, we've been walking for five minutes! Pick a spot!" Isabella gave an exaggerated groan, dropping the beach chair to the ground. "Seriously, this is taking longer than it needs to."

"I can't just pick _any_ spot Izzy; it has to be perfect." Phineas stood next to the shoreline, looking up and down the bank. "It has to be just close enough to the water to stick our toes in, but far enough away-"

"It's a _lake_ Phin; it's not like we have to worry about the tide coming in."

He walked over to her, readjusting the guitar slung over his back. "You know, maybe I'm overthinking this." He studied the beach chair. "Let's go down to the water's edge and set up there; I can leave my guitar next to the chair where it's less likely to get wet."

"Finally."

The red head laughed, picking up his friend's beach chair before heading down to the water. "Am I really that bad?"

"Yes."

"Gee Izzy, don't hold back on that one." He smiled, placing the beach chair near the water's edge. "I'm gonna leave my guitar here while I run back to the truck and grab the cooler." He paused. "And my beach chair. Be back in a sec."

Isabella watched him jog up the bank before sitting down in the beach chair, sticking her toes in the water. "Ahhh...much better."

"I'm back."

"That was fast."

The red head pointed behind him. "The truck was only several feet away." He unfolded his beach chair, setting it next to hers before placing the cooler in front of them. He opened the lid and pulled out two Cherry Cokes, popping the tops, handing one of them to her. "Cheers." They clinked bottles.

"To a relaxing day at the lake." Isabella sighed, taking a sip. "Looks like we grabbed the ice just in time; it's still cold."

Phineas merely smiled, taking another sip of Cherry Coke before reaching behind him, grabbing the guitar. He plucked a couple of strings and started tuning. "Any requests?"

"Umm..." the teen looked around. "Well, we're hanging out at the lake not really doing anything; how about a song about nothing?"

He grinned. "I know just the one."

_I wrote a song, about absolutely nothing  
__with my toes tapping in the sand  
__she sang along, just me and Izzy humming  
__Doing nothing like loving life, just doing_

"Absolutely nothing. Woo hoo hoo!"

"Are those the actual lyrics?"

"Dunno. It's kinda hard to tell. I improvised a few words." The red head continued strumming, watching as his best friend stood up, grabbing the hem of her shirt and lifting it up. "What are you doing?"

"Getting comfortable." Isabella pulled the t-shirt over her head, revealing a dark purple one-piece bathing suit underneath. "You didn't think I was going to sit out here in this weather and not sunbathe, did you?"

"No, I guess not." He absently strummed a string, watching as his best friend stepped out of her shorts.

"There. That's much better."

"Well, as long as you're comfortable."

"I am."

"Cool." Phineas returned his attention to the guitar, cringing as a loud pop was heard. "Shoot."

"What's wrong?"

"I popped a string." He sighed, setting the guitar to the side. "So much for playing the guitar; looks like I'll be taking a trip to Danny's Music Store later." He shrugged, reclining in the beach chair and closing his eyes. "Oh well."

"Wanna skip rocks?"

An eye opened. "Sure."

* * *

"And it's Isabella for the rock skipping championship ladies and gentlemen." Phineas crouched down in the sand, watching his friend. "She picks up a pebble and holds it in her hand. It must be a good one ladies and gentlemen because—oh! Denied! The pebble is tossed to the side!"

"Are you going to do that the entire time?"

"Does it throw you off your game? Because seriously, you're kinda beating me to a pulp here."

"No. No it doesn't." Isabella smirked at him, picking up another pebble down by the water's edge. She held it up to him. "Oh, I'm just getting started Phin. Don't underestimate me."

He grinned. "And it's down to the wire ladies and gentlemen." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Izzy steps up to the water's edge. She looks to the left, then to the right. She nods slowly, the pebble lying flat in her hand. She fingers it, then reels an arm back and—"

She laughed. "It's rock skipping Phin, not baseball. I don't think the commentary's the same."

"Sure it is! It's exactly like baseball!" The red head stood up, grabbing a nearby pebble and walking up to where she was standing. "It's all about technique. If you hold it like a baseball, with you fingers placed like this…" he twisted the pebble around until it was resting between his thumb and two forefingers. "And then you reel your arm back like this…" he swung his arm backwards, snapping the pebble over the water where it skipped five times before sinking. "It's a lot like pitching."

"That's pretty big talk for someone who just a few months ago couldn't remember the proper technique to skipping rocks." The teen smirked up at him. "If you remember, I beat you that night too."

"Technically we weren't competing that night."

"Oh, but we are now." Isabella lightly tossed the pebble up before catching it, expertly angling it between a thumb and forefinger before swinging her arm back. She took two steps forward, snapping the pebble over the water where it skipped nine times before sinking. "Oh yeah. I still got it." She grinned. "Game. Set. Match. Looks like it's over Phin."

He shrugged. "I still could have beaten you."

"Okay…how?"

"By doing this." The red head grinned, hip bumping her. "Now see, if I did that, it would have thrown you off your game and I would have stood a chance of winning."

"True. But _I_ would have done this." She smirked, hip bumping him back.

"Then I would have done this." The red head hip bumped her again.

"And I would have done this." She returned the hip bump, putting more force behind it.

"And I would have done this."

"And this!"

"And this!"

"And this!"

"And then this!" Phineas hip bumped her back, causing Isabella to stumble to the side.

"Whoa!" She tripped, falling against a nearby tree. "Ow."

"Izzy!" The red head ran over to her. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hip bump you that hard!"

"It's okay. It wasn't you. I tripped on a rock." She winced, looking down at her right arm.

"You're hurt."

"I'm fine Phin. Really. It's just a couple scrapes. I took Fireside Girl First Aide; I can—" she yelped as the red head scooped her up, carrying her bridal style up the bank. "Phineas, what are you doing?!"

"Taking you to the truck; we gotta bandage that arm."

"Phineas, really, I'm fine…" she trailed off, looking down. "On second thought…" the teen grinned. "Bandaging would probably be a good idea."

* * *

"Phin, it's tight enough. Really." The teen winced as her best friend tied another strip of tape around the gauze pad on her arm. "Seriously, knock it off; if you wrap it to much, it'll cut off the circulation."

"But you'll bleed."

She laughed. "I won't bleed that much." She put a hand on the red head's arm, stopping him. "Look, it's fine. Really." Isabella slowly peeled the tape off her arm, lifting the gauze away. "Look, it's just a couple scrapes. They'll heal in a few days."

"You winced."

"Well—"

"It stings, doesn't it?"

"A little."

Phineas sat back on his heels, staring at the scrapes a moment before rummaging around inside the first aide kit, pulling two items from it. "Antiseptic cream and a band-aide?"

"That's probably better."

"Allow me."

Isabella watched in mild fascination as the red head grabbed the tube of antiseptic cream, unscrewing the cap and placing it against his leg before unwrapping the band-aide. He gently peeled the strips off the back, laying the bandage against his palm before squirting the cream onto it. He gently rubbed the cream in with a finger before gently picking the band-aide up, placing it over one of the scrapes and smoothing it against her skin.

"Better?" His friend didn't answer. "Isabella?"

"I do."

"Huh?"

She started, face flushing. "I-I'm sorry? What…" she swallowed. "What did you say?"

"I asked if it was better."

"If what was better?"

He raised a brow. "I asked if your scrapes felt better. Well, one of them anyway. You know, since I put antiseptic cream and a band-aide over it." He stared at her in concern, placing a hand to her forehead. "Are you alright Izzy? Did you hit your head? Maybe we should get you to a doctor."

She shook herself. "No. I'm fine." The teen stared down at the band-aide. "It feels a lot better."

Phineas smiled. "Good. I was concerned for a minute there. Do you want me to put band-aides over the other scrapes? It might help them heal faster."

"Absolutely!"

* * *

_Later that night_

"Sorry we had to cut the friend date short Izzy." Phineas pulled the truck into the driveway, putting it in park before turning off the engine.

"We didn't have to cut it short; we could have stayed at the lake a bit longer. I would have been fine."

"I know, but…" the red head rubbed the back of his neck. "I…wanted to make sure you were fine. Figured it would be better if we headed back. You know, just in case."

"In case I died from tree scrapings?"

"Don't patronize me Isabella; I was really worried about you. I still feel bad about hip bumping you so hard you fell into a tree."

"It wasn't your fault; I was hip bumping you back. We were probably both at fault." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up Phin; accidents happen."

"Yeah…" the red head placed his arms on the steering wheel, staring out the window at the garage door.

"You know, I bet the cooler's still full of ice. Want to eat those sandwiches? They're probably still cold. I'm also starting to get hungry." Isabella paused in thought. "We could eat on the tailgate and watch the sunset…"

He looked at her. "Yeah, okay." Phineas climbed out of the truck, going around to the back of it and pulling down the tailgate. "Do you have the cooler?"

"Yep!" The teen hopped up on the tailgate, opening the cooler as her best friend sat down next to her. "Looks like they're still cold." She grabbed both sandwiches. "Which one was yours?"

"I didn't write anything on them?"

"No."

"Well, let's look." He took one of the sandwiches from her, unwrapping the foil and peering inside. "I think this one's yours."

"And this one's yours." The two swapped sandwiches. "Phin, are you okay? You've been really quiet since we left the lake."

He looked at her and shrugged, unwrapping his sandwich and taking a bite.

Isabella went to say something, only to pause as someone walked up. She smiled. "Hey Ferb."

"Am I interrupting anything?"

"No. Sit down." She scooted over so she was right against the red head, allowing Ferb to sit. "What did you do today?"

"Had Milly over. We went down to the scrapyard to pick up parts for the car."

"Tricking out the mustang again?"

"Building a new car."

"Very cool."

"How was the lake?"

"Good. Except for this." She held out her arm, showing off four band-aides with puppy dog faces on them. "Phin and I were hip bumping; he hip bumped me and I accidentally scraped my arm when I fell against a tree."

"So, the band-aides…"

"Oh, Phin patched me up."

"I see." When the red head didn't respond, the teen looked at her, pointing discreetly to his brother.

Isabella shrugged. "Don't know."

The three sat in silence, watching as the sun slowly faded away and night began to fall across Danville.

"Umm…" she looked between the brothers, her gaze lingering on the red head. "Phineas? I'm…gonna go home."

Phineas looked at her, swallowing the last of his sandwich. "Take care of those scrapes; make sure to keep them bandaged until they heal."

"Will do." She stared at him a moment, then leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. "Good-night Phin. Thanks for another great Friend Date. And for taking care of me." Isabella smiled at him a moment before climbing off the tailgate, making her way across the street.

Phineas held a hand to his cheek, a light blush forming as he watched his friend disappear into her house. "You're welcome. Good-night Izzy."

Ferb bit back an amused smirk, sliding down the tailgate so he was sitting next to his brother. "So, you and Izzy—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Look, I hip bumped her against a tree, she scraped her arm up and I put the band-aides on. That's it. End of story."

"Is it?"

He sighed, looking across the street. "You know, it's weird; I knew she wasn't really hurt, but…I panicked. Without really thinking about it, I picked her up and carried her to the truck. I don't know why I did it; I just know that…well, I wanted to take care of her. You know, fix it. Make it better."

"And that would be because…"

"Oh come on Bro! Izzy's my best friend! Why wouldn't I take care of her? We take care of each other." He motioned between them.

"That's not the same thing and you know it."

The red head glared at his brother. "You know what Bro? I'm tired." He slid off the tailgate, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking off, calling over his shoulder. "Just leave me alone."


End file.
